


Like Stars

by hangoversfinest



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Goofy - Freeform, Humor, Love, Romance, friends - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2018-12-01 13:46:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11487615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hangoversfinest/pseuds/hangoversfinest
Summary: Victoire Weasley's kitten turns blue.The exact same shade of blue as Teddy Lupin's hair.Now, how on earth could that have happened?





	1. twinkling stars and paper kittens

_ “Theodore Alastor Lupin!” _

Teddy tilts his head back and grins up at the clear blue sky. Stretched out on the shore of the Black Lake, enjoying the warm, late spring afternoon with his friends spread around him. He sits up, halfway, just enough to watch the leggy blonde stalk angrily towards him, her face turning a truly brilliant shade of pink.

“Vicky, good to see you out of the library.”

Her cheeks color and her mouth opens and closes once. But she remembers that she’s angry and she stomps two steps closer to him, long fingers clenched into fists at her side.  _ “What _ did you do to Clementine?”

He pretends to look confused. “Clementine? Are you still calling that mangy little furball by that ridiculous name?”

“She’s a kitten and she’s mine and I named her Clementine.” Victoire Weasley  _ almost _ stomps her foot she’s so angry. Her big brown eyes widen and she adds emphatically, “And you turned her blue!”

“Blue?” He blinks, looking at his friends who are not-so-subtly snickering. “Now why would I ever turn your devil cat blue?”

Her face flushes even darker when his hair changes color. The straw blonde edges that he can see out of the corner of his eye slowly turn into a bright turquoise blue. The exact same shade of turquoise blue that now stains little Clementine’s fur.

“I hate you, Teddy. You’d better change her back, or I’ll write Aunt Gin and she’ll send you another Howler.”

“You do that, Vic.”

He watches her walk away. He rather likes watching her walk away. Even a Neanderthal like Teddy Lupin can appreciate a work of art when it’s walking away from him. Victoire Weasley has legs longer than absolutely necessary. Fools have literally written  _ poems _ about her legs.

And it doesn’t stop there.

Oh, it would be so much easier if she was just a nice set of legs.

Nah, Victoire has these big, brown eyes. Most of the time they’re so serious and focused. Set underneath dark eyebrows while she’s pouring over a book. Once or twice, though, he’s gotten them to twinkle. They rather look like she’s got stars caught in them when they twinkle.

“She really going to write your aunt?” His best mate, Cedric Wood, asks looking over at him. He’s got his girlfriend stretched over his lap, sleeping softly. Roxie’s the same year as Victoire, and her cousin but the two couldn’t be or look more differently. When Roxie isn’t on a broom or stuck in class, she’s out of the castle, jumping in the lake or climbing a tree. “Are you going to get another Howler? The last one was hysterical.”

Victoire’s Uncle Ron sort of dismembered the whole tone of angry disapproval that Aunt Gin was trying to convey. He could be heard verbally remarking how impressed he was that Teddy had managed to magic the idiot Slytherin into the giant Hufflepuff hourglass holding all of their house points. It also didn’t help that everyone heard  _ the Harry Potter _ also remark about how impressive that one was.

Teddy had been in detention for a month.

But the moron had deserved it.

He turned Victoire’s soup onto her shirt while she was eating dinner. He’d been joking about what a fine piece of skirt she was “even for Weasel trash” and wanted to see what she had to offer.

Cedric had thrown his robes over the girl’s shoulders, and Teddy cursed the moron straight into the hourglass without a second thought. His hair was still red two hours later.

Not ginger red.

Blood red.

Happened when he got angry. It was embarrassing.

He’s a Metamorphagus (only thing he really got from his dead mum), and try as he might, it was always rough trying to hide what he was thinking or feeling. Anger always came in red. When he got scared, his eyes drained to almost white. When he was lonely, his hair would turn a light brown.

He was talking to Harry once about how it felt being an orphan and never knowing his parents (something that  _ the Harry Potter _ could really empathize with) and that happened. Harry stopped and stared at him for a moment. “You’ve never looked more like your dad, Ted.”

So he tries to not feel things.

Makes it easier to hide.

“She won’t tell.” Roxie mumbles, yawning and adjusting herself on Cedric’s legs. “Might be a goody-two-shoes, pretty girl, but Victoire’s not a narc.”

“How’d she not end up in Ravenclaw anyhow?” Cedric asks, reaching down and playing with the tight curls in Roxie’s hair.

“Weasley curse,” Teddy looks over, smirking. “Bleed red and gold.”

“She’s pretty,” Cedric mumbles after a bit of a quiet. “How come you’ve never gone for her, Teddy?”

His stomach turns, but before he has to come up with an answer, Roxie pipes up. “Don’t be stupid, Ced. She’s like his little sister. She’s like me.”

No.

Victoire’s nothing like Roxie.

Roxie plays Quidditch and pranks Slytherins with him. Victoire complains that his hair is strange colors and had an apprenticeship over the summer with Aunt Hermy (not that anyone was allowed to call her that to her face).

_ Technically, _ Teddy had an apprenticeship with Uncle Ron and Harry, but that had been a bit more of a laugh than anything else. He did get to spend a lot of time dropping in on Magical Law Enforcement Department and distracting Victoire. That’s when he got her eyes to twinkle.

They’d spent hours that afternoon sitting against Victoire’s desk, trying to charm little wads of parchment into various animal shapes.

He’d impressed her, he knew it.

She loved the kitten with whiskers as fine as curls of smoke that crawled up on her knee and licked her face with a little paper tongue. She curled her long fingers around his head and her eyes twinkled and dimples flashed in the corners of her mouth. “I’ve always wanted a kitten. My parents are getting me a pet for my birthday you know. I’m thinking a kitten or an owl.”

She’d gone for Clementine, a tiny little tabby with big, bright blue eyes who loved Teddy more than he loved her.

Clementine curled up in his chest late that afternoon when he stretched out on the sofa to take a nap before dinner. The cat’s fur was still blue, but a distinctly lighter shade. As if some frustrated witch had tried to switch it back, but had been distinctly unsuccessful. Smiling tiredly, he taps the top of the feline’s head with his wand and her fur turned bright, brilliant turquoise blue again.

As if she knows what he’s thinking, the cat begins to pur.

Teddy Lupin falls asleep thinking about twinkling stars and paper kittens.

 

* * *

 

_ Teddy, _

_ First off, James and Al miss you dearly. They say that the house is boring while you’re at school and wish that you’d come home already. Lily says that she doesn’t miss you and says that James and Al are much more manageable while you’re gone. But, if they would continue to behave themselves, she would like you to come visit over the summer. _

_ George wants to thank you for helping Roxie set up her apprenticeship at the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Oliver is still going on and on to Harry about how glad he is that she and Cedric finally started dating, though he is worried about the team dynamic. Apparently, Cedric won’t tell him anything about how their relationship has affected the team, so he’s asked me to ask you if you’ve noticed anything (despite how I’ve told him that you don’t particularly pay much attention to that sort of thing). _

_ Speaking of the Quidditch team, are you still seeing that lovely Rachel Davies? You didn’t mention her at all in your last letter and her father has been pestering me about you and whether or not the two of you are a good fit. _

_ How are your studies going? Are you still feeling under the weather? Did you get the tonic that we sent in our last letter? We heard that it’s been an unseasonably warm spring up where you are (Harry’s allergies have been driving him crazy, which is driving me crazy). _

_ Much love, _

_ Ginny _

_ P.S. Did you really turn Victoire’s kitten blue? _


	2. the train that takes us home

Victoire Weasley pulls her legs up under her, alone in the train compartment for at least a few precious minutes before  _ someone  _ came bursting in. Someone always tried to interrupt her. Especially when she was reading.

Aunt Hermy was letting her in on another apprenticeship this summer. She was working on a piece of legislation concerning para-human entities (giants, ogres,  _ werewolves) _ . First of all, she’d written Victoire in a lengthy letter over the winter when the apprenticeship had first been discussed, they’ll be destroying as much of the discriminatory terminology as possible.  _ Para-human _ was about to become an outdated and socially offensive word, and it would be all thanks to Victoire.

… and Hermione Granger-Weasley.

But Victoire would help.

And as of right now, Victoire was trying to read up on human and magical creature rights legislation over the last three millennia. And, though she enjoys pouring over several thousands years worth of messy handwriting and spelling errors as the next person, it requires all of her concentration.

And it was getting a little dry.

“Well, look who it is.”

The idiot interrupting her piece is trying to sound seductive, but the overall effect makes her want to crawl out of her skin. Her lips press, “Hello, Flint.”

Slytherin Prefect, unfortunately good-looking, but a piece of slime.

For whatever reason, he’d gotten it into his head that they should engage in relations. Not a  _ relationship, _ he’d explained, because she’s a Gryffindor and a Wealsey, though pureblooded, but  _ relations.  _ As in, they should become physically involved.

They’d been alone in the library writing up a Prefects schedule when he brought this up to her and he put his hand on her knee. She dropped a book on his hand that apparently required him going to the Hospital Wing and missing the Quidditch match against Gryffindor, but at least the conversation had ended.

“Vicky,” he purrs, stepping into her compartment and leaning against the door. “You look lovelier than ever.”

“It’s  _ Victoire.” _

“But I’ve heard you called Vicky before, and it suits you.”

Only Teddy calls her Vicky.

And he only does it to annoy her.

She looks up at Flint and forces herself to smile. “I prefer being called Victoire, please.”

This seems to encourage him, which isn’t good.

“Please, huh? I like how that sounds,” he leans forward, too far in her space. She can feel his breath against her cheek. He touches some of her hair. “Makes me think of other things I can make you beg for.”

“I hope that’s not supposed to be your seduction attempt, Flint.”

Victoire’s head snaps up so fast that she almost knocks Flint in the face.

Teddy leans against the compartment door with his hands stuffed in his pockets. His shirt is undone and blue and blonde hair falling into his face. A smile cuts away at his face, but it doesn’t reach his eyes-- they’re grey right now.

Even as they stand there in awkward silence, his hair darkens slightly, the blue turning towards purple-- edging onto red.

“You could probably learn a thing or two, Lupin,” Flint says finally, standing up and rounding on the slighter but taller boy. “Maybe then you’ll stop chasing after second-rate skirts like that Hufflepuff cow.”

Teddy’s fast with his wand.

Unfortunately, Flint is pretty fast too.

There’s a loud bang and when the smoke clears, Teddy’s slammed against the other wall of the compartment, an angry purple bruise already blooming on his chest.

And Flint’s eyebrows-- Er. Well,  _ eyebrow _ , has completely taken over his face. It’s crossed the bridge of his nose by the time that Cedric Wood manages to shove him out into the hallway.

Roxie slams the compartment door shut behind him, snickering. She looks over her shoulder at Teddy and rolls her eyes, “Oh get up, Lupin. Stop being a drama queen.”

Teddy flicks his hair out of his face and rubs his chest where the curse hit him. He grimaces, “That actually hurt a bit, Rox, gimme a break.” He catches Victoire eyeing the bruise on his chest worriedly and buttons his shirt up a bit further than it had been. “Don’t look at me like that, Vic, someone might get confused and think you actually like me.”

She opens her mouth to retort, but Cedric cuts in, staring towards the door. “What’s that idiot doing in here bothering you anyways? Thought he learned his lesson after last time.”

“After last time? You mean when Lupin cursed him into the Hufflepuff hourglass?” Roxie chortles. “I hope none of you actually think that it took McGonagall a full twenty minutes to get him out of there.”

Victoire remembered that.

Soup staining her front, cheeks burning. Teddy’s hair had been dark red and his eyes had been black.

Even now, the grey slips out of his eyes and they turn blue. He winks at her and stretches his legs across the compartment, crossing his ankles over the opposite bench. “What can I say? The headmistress likes me.”

McGonagall did like Teddy.

Whenever she gave him detention, he would invariably end up in her office for hours on end supposedly doing research. Victoire had to come in once, to deliver the Prefects schedule, and they were actually debating the merits of some complex transfiguration techniques.

“I call bull on that one,” Cedric says, putting his arm through Roxie’s playing with the sleeve of her shirt. “Sorry, mate, but you get into too much trouble for any of the teachers to like you.”

They’re relatively quiet for the ride back.

Victoire even manages to get back into her work.

Their quiet chatter slowly fades, Cedric falls asleep first (apparently they’d all been up late celebrating the end of another year) and Roxie is quick after. Victoire almost starts when Teddy moves but he just grins at her, unlatching Clementine’s cage.

He pulls her kitten into his lap where the cat happily stretches and curls up. She rubs her head under his big hands before sleepily blinking a few times. “Couldn’t change her back?” He asks, laughter on the edge of his voice.

She stares at the parchment, little black letters not making any sense to her eyes right now. “I haven’t really had the time to try.”

“I’m sure.”

He falls asleep too, Clementine curled up in his lap. She never curls up in Victoire’s lap.

His hair gets a little darker when he sleeps.

Not much, just a little.

Roxie snores softly. Cedric nuzzles the top of her head, smile playing at his mouth. And Teddy Lupin dozes lightly with her cat on his chest.

Victoire only makes it a few more minutes before she too falls asleep.

 

* * *

 

 

_ Rox, _

_ You have officially one-upped me in the department for worst-ever relationship. Apparently Cedric is  _ “lovely”  _ and _ “just the dearest,”  _ but his dad is driving mum mad. It’s got it’s perks though, he’s gotten top-notch tickets for the World Cup this year. Looks like almost the whole family is going to get into the Box Office. _

_ Bulgaria is wonderful. Uncle Charlie just showed me a Hungarian Horntail nest the other day. Apparently, Uncle Harry fought one of them in the Triwizard Cup when he was just fourteen. Thanks to Aunt Herms, though, it’s no longer legal for dragons or other magical creatures to be used in wizarding competitions. It’s actually a real neat piece of legislation, requiring conscious agreement from the creature in question in order for competition participation. _

_ Not that you care, neanderthal. _

_ I should be back in July. Uncle Charlie and I are going to be back in the country about three days before the Cup. _

_ (Is Teddy staying at the Burrow this summer? Or with Uncle Harry and Aunt Gin?) _

_ Eat dung, _

_ Freddie _


	3. a grassy knoll

Harry Potter picks his way up the grassy hill, stained orange by the setting sun until he sees the tall boy sitting with his back against a tree. The small knoll is the only well-kept family secret, but there’s nothing marking it from the other hundred peaceful spots just like this, decorating the sloping countryside that’s set around the Burrow.

Teddy’s voice comes to him in a low murmur.

“It took McGonagall nearly a half hour to get him out of the hourglass. But, considering that during detention it only took her two tries to attempt Hornuflucus’s Transformation on the chandelier, I think she let the idiot stew in there just for fun for a bit.”

His hair was a lighter brown.

It meant he wasn’t paying attention.

It was still a little too long and fell into his face. But his nose was a little straighter, his face a little thinner. His eyes were a narrow grey. It was like looking at Remus Lupin without the scars, without the werewolf curse.

He keeps talking to the summer evening even though Harry sits next to him, legs stretched out. When his voice fades for a little bit, Harry steps in. “You’d never believe it, Remus, Professor McGonagall  _ and _ Neville Longbottom both wrote me about it, telling me how impressed they were. I mean, you know McGonagall, she didn’t explicitly  _ say _ she was impressed but it was there.”

Of course, Remus Lupin doesn’t reply.

But the family’s best kept secret is full of memories that can’t talk back.

Percy and George come here about once a week, oftentimes together. They were the ones who started the whole one-sided conversation tradition. The way they bickered and went on about things-- if you shut your eyes, you could feel like Fred Weasley was really there, grinning and chipping in.

The grass was worn down around his grave.

Arthur and Molly came regularly, even now that they were so old as to need to lean on each other for support. Mr. Weasley almost completely bald and Mrs. Weasley’s hair streaked liberally with silver. Harry came with Ginny once, but he had to leave.

Her words were for her brother alone.

Harry and Teddy had gotten into a horrible shouting match at the end of Teddy’s third year. Hours later, he’d found Teddy here on the knoll, complaining bitterly to his parents graves. He continued on angrily for a little bit, even if Harry was standing right in front of him. The anger evaporated slowly and Teddy Lupin had lowered his head and mumbled an apology.

Harry sat next to him and pulled out a battered piece of parchment.

He touched the tip of his wand to the page and said. “I am Teddy Lupin and I demand to speak with the Marauders.”

Teddy frowned and him and Harry shrugged, grinning a little. “They tend to respond a little better if you’re rude.”

_ Mr. Prongs can barely conceal his absolute amazement that Remus Lupin has been able to kiss a girl, let alone capable of procreation. _

_ Mr. Padfoot expresses condolences for the poor, unfortunate Mrs. Lupin for having to put up with a frankly intolerable number of terribly-patterned sweaters. _

_ Mr. Wormtail wonders if Mrs. Lupin has experienced any sort of traumatic brain injury that forced her to settle for Remus Lupin. _

_ Mr. Moony is glad to meet Teddy Lupin and suspects that he is a rather brilliant and handsome young man-- is he a Gryffindor? _

Teddy stares in disbelief at the paper, at his father’s handwriting, at the nickname carved into his father’s grave. Harry smiles and says, “Yes. He’s a Gryffindor. He’s brilliant and can barely go five minutes without getting into some kind of trouble or the other. He cursed the Slytherin table bright pink and somehow managed to make the ceiling in the Great Hall rain silver confetti on only the Slytherins any time any of them complained about it.”

The paper isn’t quiet for long.

_ Mr. Prongs is ashamed for not thinking of that himself and wonders how Teddy managed the confetti? _

_ Mr. Padfoot expresses that he obviously used the Splerux Charm- didn’t he? _

_ Mr. Prongs doesn’t think that the Splerux Charm is specific enough to only affect one portion of the ceiling, it would cover the whole Hall wouldn’t it? _

_ Mr. Moony thinks that regardless of what it was, that it’s very impressive that Teddy was able to perform it and he should imagine that his father is proud of him… regardless of the trouble that he undoubtedly got into. _

The conversation went for hours.

Teddy didn’t speak with the map often anymore, just when he’s upset. But he comes to their graves and speaks to the empty space.

The two men walk back to the Burrow together. The mess from dinner’s already been cleared up and most of the family is scrambling to set up tents. There are far too many of them to all fit into the house. Anyways, the cousins always think that the campout is fun.

James, Albus, and Hugo come sprinting up the hill and drag Teddy away. They’re talking about these special little fireworks that Uncle George gave them. (“You can hold them in your hand and they kind of tickle!” - “There’s a snake and an eagle and a dragon _!  _ A  _ dragon _ , Teddy!” - “The lion’s the best though, don’t you fink?”)

Harry hangs behind and watches the boys clamber around the young man who is arguably his first son. Though he shared the responsibility of raising the boy with Andromeda Tonks, the poor woman only made it a few years after the Battle of Hogwarts before her grief for her husband and her daughter swallowed her. Ginny, as if she knows what he’s thinking, winds an arm around his middle and presses her head into his shoulder. “We did all right by him, didn’t we?”

Ginny loved the boy fiercely.

There were pictures of her on the front of Witch’s Weekly and Quidditch Qualms, holding a broomstick in one hand and a blue-haired infant in the other. She’s got pictures of the two of them around the house.

She never questioned that Teddy was hers.

She never even allowed for it to be an option that he might not be.

“He’s gotten so handsome,” she says quietly, watching her the son she adopted grin and wrestle with the ones she gave birth to. “And he’s so brilliant, Harry. Can’t keep out of trouble, but…”

“No,” Harry mumbles tucking her head under his chin. “I’m proud of him too, Gin.”


	4. little girls and their big brothers

Victoire stumbles out of the girls’ tent rubbing her eyes and yawning. Nearly everyone is already awake and eating breakfast in the tiny kitchen in the Burrow. There isn’t space much anywhere and people are perched on countertops, leaning against walls or baskets of laundry.

Or sitting on the stairs with a little girl in their lap.

It’s no secret that Lily Luna Potter loves Teddy best.

Still in her little yellow pajamas, her hair almost as much of a tousled mess as his, she clutches the front of his shirt while speaking rapid-fire about everything that he missed while he was at school. And he eats up every nonsensical word.

“And I found a snake in the garden and I named him Tommy but Mum won’t let me keep him, says he’s supposed to be wild and that he wouldn’t be happy but he keeps coming up and letting me pet him. He won’t let James or even Albus pet him. He just likes me--”

Victoire fights a smile and fills her plate with eggs and toast.

She ends up next to Roxie who looks zombified. Her cousin grunts in good morning and rubs her eyes, slouching forward. “I’ve been up since dawn. Freddie and Uncle Charlie are supposed to be in any minute now.”

Victoire’s parents lean against each other wearily against the pantry door. Her father kisses her forehead. “Morning, love. Did you sleep alright out there?”

“She slept fine,” Roxie complains. “She got the angelic bunkmate. Lily might’ve taken a Sleeping Draught for all we know.  _ Rose _ on the other hand…” Roxie’s eyes narrow at the little seven year old, sitting under the table with a thick book in her lap, “kept the light on all night so she could read  _ my _ textbooks, Uncle Bill.  _ My _ textbooks.”

Uncle Ron shakes his head, “Just like her mother, that one. She made me and Hugo sign a petition for a quiet time round the house just so she can focus. We usually have to go outside and toss the Quaffle around a bit.”

“It wouldn’t kill you to read, Dad,” the little voice came out from under the table.

“You don’t know that for sure, Rose,” Uncle Ron teases. “Best not test my luck.”

Lily only disentangles herself from Teddy to get dressed for the day, but she’s riding on his shoulders again as soon as that’s done, playing with his hair and demanding that he turn it different colors. She’s halfway through telling him about how she’s trying to convince her parents to let her go to Hogwarts as his pet when Victoire steps up.

“Oh would you look at that, Lily Bug, it’s Vicky. Say hello to Vicky.”

Lily giggles. “You’re the only one who’s allowed to call her that. Just like I’m the only one who gets to call you Teddy Bear.”

And already the five year old shows more common sense than that awful Flint.

“Teddy Bear?” Victoire repeats, smiling.

“Yep,” Lily nods smartly. “I’m Lily Bug and he’s Teddy Bear. But only we get to use those names, Victoire. I’m sorry but we’ll need to come up with separate names for you to use, okay?”

Victoire’s eyes meet Teddy’s and he winks. “Yeah, Vic, you don’t get to call me Teddy Bear. I know how much you want to.”

“How ever will I resist the urge… It will take so much restraint on my part,” Victoire sighs dramatically.

“Turn pink,” Lily insists, pulling gently on Teddy’s hair.

He doesn’t just go for pink. He goes for bright bubblegum pink.

“That’s a good look for you, mate. I think you should keep it,” Roxie says frankly, joining them. There are still heavy bags under her eyes and she keeps looking over her shoulder to where her brother is most likely to come from. “Where are they? It’s almost noon and they’re still not--”

“Isn’t Cedric coming tonight too? And then we’re all going to the World Cup together tomorrow, yeah?”

Roxie shakes her head and gives Teddy a look. “What? Ced? Yeah, I think he’s coming. That’s not import--” Her eyes widen at the sound of a loud  _ pop _ and she goes tearing across the lawn.

Lily wriggles until Teddy sets her down on the ground and she takes off after her cousin, screaming for her Uncle Charlie and Freddie. Victoire and Teddy take their time across the yard. There’s a crowd around the last two family members and it’ll take awhile before they get their turn to say hello.

Not that Roxie seems particularly concerned about the line around her and behind her.

Her arms flung around her brother’s shoulders, face buried in his neck. She talks to him just like Lily talks to Teddy, lightning-fast and disjointed. She’ll demand that he do something for her and then tell him about that awful night she got locked out of the Common Room with Cedric and they nearly froze. Or about the Quidditch Finals -  _ “Which we won and I hit a Bludger so hard that it knocked the Slytherin seeker off his broom, the self-righteous, pompous ass!” _ Or the night that she and Teddy set off a whole bunch of Instant Peruvian Darkness Powder outside the Slytherin Common Room and none of the Slytherins could find their way out of the hallway and they were all late to class.

“Makes you wish you had a brother or a sister, doesn’t it?”

Victoire looks over at Teddy, a little surprised at the wistfulness in his voice. “You basically have three who would following you right off the edge of the Astronomy Tower.”

“They’re not really mine though, are they?”

His eyes are a little darker than before and his hair is back to blue. She doesn’t like the seriousness. She nudges him and smiles, “Better not tell them that. I don’t know if they could handle the shock.”

His eyes lighten when he looks at her. “No, I guess you’re right.”

“Obviously,” she teases, smiling. “I’m always right.”

 

* * *

 

 

_ Ginny, _

_ You won’t believe Teddy’s marks this year. I know I’m not supposed to share them until we get everyone’s graded, but everyone’s been talking about it. They haven’t seen scores this high since Hermione. Slughorn’s talking about getting him in a room with some of the International Magick’s Council. We reckon the only thing working against him from getting a job would be how much trouble he’s gotten into, but I reckon that they’ll likely be more impressed by it than anything else. _

_ Luna is doing a whole profile on me for the Quibbler, discussing all sorts of plants that I’ve conducted my research on. You should be sure to get next month’s issue. _

_ I’m not sure if you’re aware but I believe Lily wrote me a letter demanding that I allow her to go to Hogwarts this next year with Teddy. I tried to let her down as gently as I could, but she tried to send me a Howler. _

_ Warmest regards, _

_ Neville _


	5. stealing sunlight

Victoire Weasley may be part veela, but Arielle Zabini is Arielle Zabini.

And when she stalks by the Potter-Weasley campsite, Victoire is still wearing her pajamas with her hair tossed up on top of her head and sleep heavy in her eyes. While Arielle looks… well, she looks absolutely perfect.

Wide green eyes and skin the color of toffee, her hair twists elegantly off to the side. Her full lips quirk and she raises one haughty eyebrow towards Teddy as she stalks by. He grins at her and calls her “Ari.”

“Watch yourself, Lupin,” she teases. “Or I may have to come back and teach you a lesson.”

“Well,” Cedric Wood mumbles, pulling a cup of tea to his lips and nestling in between Victoire and Roxie. He wears a great big sweater and his hair is adorably rumpled. “It seems a bit too early in the morning for that sort of behavior.”

“S’not his fault,” Roxie yawns, leaning against him. “When someone looks like that, it isn’t hard to get it on with them all hours of the day.”

Cedric stares at her. “Are you saying Arielle Zabini is more attractive than me?”

“I’m saying she’s more attractive than all of us combined.”

Teddy shakes his head, laughing. “Looks aren’t everything.”

Roxie stares at him. “You dated her for three months. A  _ Slytherin _ , Ted. Looks were at least 90% of your relationship.”

Cedric nudges her, “You might be low-balling there, Rox. It’s gotta be in the upper 90s.” He grins at Teddy, “Sorry, mate.”

“She’s not that bad of a person. Come on, Vicky, defend me.”

Victoire looks a little startled that they’re talking to her. She tries to blink the sleep out of her eyes. Her mouth opens, but she closes it before saying anything. She finally turns her head to frown at Teddy. “She poured gravy down my front.”

“She thought that you were the reason they broke up,” Cedric adds helpfully. “She thought it was my fault at first and she threw a tomato at me.”

“I got detention for a month for what she tried to do to me,” Roxie adds helpfully.

_ That _ had been an event.

The two girls, both barely starting their fifth year at the time, had one of the most impressive duels that Hogwarts had seen in several years. A small group of third years sprouted gills, the hallway outside of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom smelled like garlic for a week, and Cedric turned temporarily green. In all, very impressive.

Roxie smiles in memory. “That was fun, we should do it again sometime.”

“See, she’s not just for looks, she can throw a curse or two around with the best of them!”

“She’s crazy and chucks food at people instead of expressing herself,” Cedric frowns. “Mind you she’s got an excellent arm, why doesn’t she play Quidditch?”

Victoire laughs and Teddy gets distracted.

Arielle Zabini gets under the skin like an itch.

But every once in awhile, Victoire seems to steal sunlight. Soft blonde hair and wide brown eyes. Her smile touches her whole face.

He likes making her smile.

And he’s got hundreds of opportunities throughout the day.

There’s too much going on and too much noise for her to even try and work for a moment. Eventually they get up and wander through the lines of tents, seeing all of their classmates. He picks a daisy and gets it to float dreamily around her head, occasionally bumping her nose. She’s laughing when she tells him to stop it, and he whispers it to tuck itself into her hair.

Cedric leans against Roxie and asks, frowning. “Why aren’t we ever cute like that?”

He tries to charm a flower, but it grows three feet tall and it chases them for awhile before losing interest and stamping off into the forest.

“That,” Roxie pants, snickering a little, “That is exactly why we aren’t cute.”

“And  _ we _ aren’t cute,” Teddy adds, half-laughing. “That’s all, Vic. She’s cute with anyone.”

She flushes, but looks pleased.

Roxie holds up a finger and stares sternly at her boyfriend. “Don’t you even try to say anything, Ced. You’re going to end up saying that I look like a goat,  _ again.” _

He kicks the ground and pouts. “That was just one time.”

But Roxie and Cedric are cute when no one’s looking and in ways that no one ever expects.

She’ll knock him over and instead of helping him up, she crouches down and kisses his nose. Or when she decides to try and help him up, he’ll knock her on her arse and run away laughing while she chases him.

Teddy never quite wants a girlfriend like he does when he’s with them.

“They rather put things into perspective, don’t they?” Victoire says quietly, watching Cedric hold a pastry out of Roxie’s reach. “They’re sweet in their own way.”

Roxie threatens him with an Unforgivable Curse  _ (“I haven’t eaten in  _ ages _ , Ced!” “It’s barely been an hour, Rox!”) _ and Teddy laughs. “Don’t tell the blokes at school that this is what you want. You’ll get all sorts of morons running around behaving like children because they’re think it’ll get your attention.”

Her eyebrows raise. “Yeah? And what exactly is it that you do, Teddy Lupin?”

He turns on her, smiling and purposefully stepping into her personal space. She doesn’t step away, Victoire never backs down. “Are you accusing me of behaving like a child? Or of trying to get your attention?”

There are a thousand things she could say.

He can almost see them flashing across those warm eyes.

Instead of saying anything, however, she just smiles a little, pats his chest and walks towards Roxie, who’s sitting on top of Cedric now, eating the pastry and looking far too pleased with herself. Cedric watches her go and as much as he likes watching Victoire Weasley’s legs as she walks away, he wonders two things.

First, why the  _ hell _ is he so worked up right now?

And second, what on earth had he wanted her to say?

 

* * *

 

 

_ Dear Professor Neville, _

_ I’m very sorry for sending you a Howler. I know it wasn’t very nice and I shouldn’t have done it. I’ve been grounded for three whole days because of it. James thinks it was a brilliant idea, which is how I know that I shouldn’t have done it. _

_ I’m very sorry. _

_ Lily Luna Potter _


	6. magic

Victoire tries very hard not to look at Teddy when he takes Lily by the hands and spins in slow circles with her. Uncle Ron had started it when he charmed one of the radios to play a little too loudly and scooped up his wife and spun her in a dramatic circle. He sang to a Muggle song very loudly and very poorly, but Aunt Herms giggled and sang right back to him.

Her parents started in next, but they moved gracefully.

And in the firelight, and the way that her mum was staring at him, it was like his face had never been scarred before.

The others trickled in, slowly.

James, surprisingly, asked his mum to dance with him before Uncle Harry wised up and swept Aunt Gin off for his own.

Lily and Teddy were somewhere in the middle of the pack. And in the beginning they danced kind of goofy and silly. But then, he insisted on “teaching her a thing or two.” She stood very carefully on his feet and giggled when they moved through the steps together.

Cedric and Roxie don’t dance, but they sway back and forth where they’re sitting. Her shoulder lands on his head.

Looking at them is almost as bad as looking at Teddy, who she catches in a flash from the corner of her eye.

The way he smiles at Lily catches his whole face. Hair falling into his eyes, he impatiently pushes it away with one hand before picking his adopted sister up and spinning her in a big circle. His eyes crinkle at the edges and dimples cut into the side of his cheeks.

He’s not strictly the most handsome.

Yet, he’s never had any trouble dating very pretty girls.

Girls like Arielle Zabini and Rachel Davies.

And it’s because of how he smiles and how he can look at you.

_ As if you’re special. _

Victoire gets up and that’s a mistake. The flash of movement must’ve caught his eye because he and Lily are next to her in a heartbeat. His wide smile is pointed at her now and she wonders for a moment if she’s going to do something silly and awkward like trip or stutter. “Are you finally going to dance, Vic?”

Lily’s eyes widen, “You should, Victoire! I’m sure you’re a lovely dancer!”

She laughs a little and wipes her sweaty hands on her pants. “No, I’m actually going to get some water… er, thanks though.”

She walks away as fast as she can.

But she doesn’t go far.

Just far enough for the music to be quieter, the lights to be dimmer-- enough space to give her heart time to stop hammering.

She’s had a crush on Teddy before.

When they were younger, and she was all legs and knobby knees and she looked like a colt. Her face was too much for a little girl and it had taken years to grow into.

She thought she’d outgrown it.

Outgrown him.

But it started all over last summer with those stupid paper kittens.

And her own very real, very stupid kitten, Clementine, whose blue eyes seemed to exactly match the blue in Teddy’s eyes when he smiled.

The same kitten who loved Teddy so much better than her owner.

“Stupid,” she whispers to herself. “You’re so stupid.”

“I wouldn’t say stupid,” a voice comes in behind her, teasing. “I just think you can’t dance.”

_ Speak of the devil… _

“You don’t think I can dance?” Her eyes narrow.

He laughs and puts his hands on her shoulders. “Vicky, I was there when your mom taught all of us how to waltz. You literally broke Freddie’s foot.”

Color rises in her cheeks and she pushes his chest, “I’ve gotten much better.”

“Fine,” he leans in closer than he should, smirking at her. “Prove it.”

It doesn’t seem possible, but she’s actually gotten worse.

Laughing so hard his face hurts, they have to take a break for a moment. He stops at the look on her face, she’s embarrassed. She exhales, frustrated, “I don’t get it. Why am I so bad at this?”

“Here,” he grins at her, “I have something that can help, just wait here.”

He comes back with a glass. “It’s a potion,” he explains. “It’s not going to do much, just make it a little easier for you to relax.”

Her eyebrows raise, “And you just have this on hand?”

He winks at her, “It’s always a good idea to be prepared.”

Frowning at him, she takes a sip. She makes a face. “It’s just-- it’s firewhiskey?”

He grins and takes a healthy drink of the “potion.” “It’ll do the trick. Trust me.”

By the end of the cup, she’s starting to warm. Her muscles do feel lighter. She frowns up at him though, “I still don’t know how to dance.”

“I’ll show you,” he grins. “Just relax.”

He puts her hands around his neck (not the proper spot). He pulls her so close that their stomachs touch (also not included in her mum’s lesson). But his hands settle on her hips and the warmth spreads to her belly. If she were a Metamorphagus like him, she’d probably be bright cherry red.

“I said  _ relax, _ Vic,” he whispers, mouth brushing the side of her cheek as he leans over her. “That doesn’t mean hold your breath.”

She exhales, reluctantly.

“Now shut your eyes,” he murmurs.

The music doesn’t seem to matter as much anymore. Neither do the steps.

With her eyes shut and the only thing that matters is how he holds her, she doesn’t know when her head rests against his chest, but it does. He presses his face into her hair and they sway and wander.

And dancing alone in the woods with Teddy Lupin seems to be the most magical thing she’s done in her entire life.

That is until they stop.

And she looks up.

And he looks down.

He isn’t breathing.

She doesn’t think she is either.

They curl together and their lips touch so softly at first.

His arms tighten around her and hers around him.

But they keep the kisses soft.

And things just make sense.


	7. like stars

 

Teddy doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do with Victoire that morning.

Thankfully, the whole family is in constant chaos all day and he doesn’t have a chance to make a stupid mistake that could ruin everything until they’re headed to the game.

And then, she’s walking ahead of him, speaking earnestly with Freddie.

He catches up to them, standing closer to her than absolutely necessary. She stutters when he bumps into her accidentally, which he thinks is cute. But if he’d been trying to talk then, he imagines he’d barely be able to stammer.

He makes sure to sit next to her during the match and makes every excuse to touch her.

Nudge her shoulder to get her attention, push into her when they needed to make room for someone else down the row. Get her attention by touching her wrist. And once when everybody got up on their feet to scream about something or the other, she was shoved into him by one of her cousins, and to steady her, his hand caught the center of her spine.

Touching her like he’s touched her a hundred thousand times over the years.

But now it makes his stomach burn.

He can barely control the color of his hair.

Doesn’t remember the match at all.

And at three o’clock in the morning after the game finally ended, he pulls her aside before she can get into the girls’ tent and go to bed.

To his immense and pleasant surprise, she grabs him by the shirt collar and jerks him down to kiss her.

And the world could’ve been burning and he wouldn’t have noticed till his pants caught fire.

He grins down at her, “You’re a little minx, aren’t you, Vic?”

“I didn’t tell you to stop, did I?” She asks, breathless, lips chafed pink.

“Demanding too,” his excitement bubbles out in a stupid smile. He probably looks like an idiot. But it doesn’t matter when her eyes are closed and they’re kissing.

They both nearly die from fright when Uncle Ron stumbles out of the tent barely a foot away, grumbling for the bathroom and claiming that he’s too old for this shit. He doesn’t even notice the two.

So they sneak back off to the woods.

Where they kiss some more.

And they talk.

And he charms the grass to light up like little stars and swirl around them.

She makes fun of him and says that he’s just trying to show off. He doesn’t argue with her, but it’s really just so he can see the light in her eyes.

They twinkle like stars.


End file.
